Wage Garnishment
Stop the IRS from taking your paycheck!
What is IRS Wage Garnishment?
Wage garnishment is exactly what it sounds like: the IRS tells your employer to take money from your paycheck and send it directly to them. Every pay period. Until your debt is paid.
Here's what makes IRS garnishment different from other creditors: they can take a lot more. Credit card companies and medical debt collectors are limited by law on how much they can take. The IRS? No such limits. They calculate what they think you need to survive based on national standards, and they can take the rest.
For many people, that means keeping barely enough to pay rent and nothing left for food, gas, or anything else.
How Did This Happen?
The IRS doesn't garnish wages as a first resort. Before they can levy your paycheck, they're required to send you notices. The problem? Those notices are easy to miss, ignore, or misunderstand. Here's the typical timeline:
Notice of Balance Due
The IRS sends you a bill showing what you owe.
Reminder Notices
More letters arrive, increasingly urgent in tone.
Final Notice of Intent to Levy
This is the critical one. You have 30 days to respond.
Wage Garnishment Begins
If you don't respond, your employer gets a notice to start withholding.
The entire process can take months. But once that final notice is sent and the deadline passes, the IRS can act without going to court.
How Much Can the IRS Take?
The IRS uses a formula based on your filing status and number of dependents to calculate the "exempt" amount, which is the portion of your paycheck they must leave you. Everything else goes to them.
The exempt amounts are shockingly low. A single person with no dependents might be left with around $1,100 per month. A married couple with two kids? Maybe $2,300. Try paying rent, utilities, food, and transportation with that.
Even worse: if you have multiple jobs, the IRS can garnish 100% of your wages from one employer while taking a portion from another.
Can Wage Garnishment Be Stopped?
Yes. Even if the garnishment has already started, we can often get it released. Here's how:
Prove Financial Hardship
If the garnishment leaves you unable to pay for basic living expenses, the IRS may be required to release or reduce it. We can demonstrate this with proper documentation.
Set Up an Alternative Payment Arrangement
The IRS usually prefers a voluntary payment arrangement over forced collection. If you can commit to an installment agreement or qualify for Currently Not Collectible status, they'll typically release the levy.
Challenge the Amount Owed
If the IRS made an error, such as calculating your tax wrong, failing to credit payments you made, or some other mistake, we can challenge the underlying debt.
File for an Offer in Compromise
If you qualify to settle your debt for less than you owe, the IRS may release garnishments while your offer is being considered.
What We Can Do
When you hire us to handle your wage garnishment:
We contact the IRS immediately
To request that the garnishment be released or reduced.
Your employer deals with us, not the IRS
We handle all communications going forward.
We find the right long-term solution
Resolving your tax debt will prevent a levy from happening again.
The First 72 Hours After a Final Notice of Intent to Levy
If you have received Letter 1058 or Letter 11 (Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing), the 30-day window before the IRS can issue a wage levy has started. The first 72 hours determine your strategic options.
Hour 0-24: Confirm the notice and pull transcripts
Confirm the exact date on the notice. The 30-day window runs from that date, not from when you opened the envelope. Pull your IRS Account Transcripts to confirm what the IRS thinks you owe, by year, and whether the underlying assessments are valid.
Hour 24-48: File Form 12153 if you intend to use Collection Due Process rights
A Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing request, filed within 30 days of Letter 1058, stops the levy from being issued in the first place. The CDP request moves your case to the IRS Office of Appeals, where you can negotiate collection alternatives, challenge the underlying tax (in limited circumstances), and preserve your Tax Court rights.
CDP requests must be timely. Postmarked within 30 days. Sent to the address on the notice (not a generic IRS address). Certified mail with return receipt is the standard.
For complete CDP procedure, see IRS Collection Due Process hearing.
Hour 48-72: Decide your resolution path
The CDP filing buys you time to develop the actual resolution. By the end of the first 72 hours, you should know whether you are pursuing an installment agreement, Currently Not Collectible status, an Offer in Compromise, or some combination. The path determines what financial documentation you need to compile and which IRS form to file.
Missing the 30-day CDP window does not eliminate resolution options, but it costs you Tax Court access on the levy issues. Filing timely is almost always the right move.
Common Questions
How quickly can you stop a garnishment?
In many cases, we can get a release or reduction within 24 to 48 hours of being retained. The exact timeline depends on your situation and how quickly we can reach the right person at the IRS.
Will my employer know about my tax problems?
Your employer already knows if they received a garnishment notice. Once we're involved, all future communications with the IRS go through us. We work to resolve this as discreetly as possible.
Can the IRS garnish Social Security or retirement income?
Yes, but the rules vary. The IRS can take up to 15% of your Social Security benefits through the Federal Payment Levy Program if it's your only source of income, but more in some cases. They can also levy retirement accounts.
What if I just changed jobs?
The IRS will find your new employer. Changing jobs doesn't make the problem go away; it just delays it briefly.
What happens to the money the IRS has taken?
Unfortunately, money already withheld and sent to the IRS is generally not refundable, but it will be applied to your debt. Acting quickly is important to stopping a levy and finding a solution.
Don't Wait, This Gets Worse
Every paycheck that gets garnished is money you need for rent, food, and bills. The longer you wait, the more you lose.
If the IRS is garnishing your wages or has sent you a notice that they're about to, call us now. We'll work to stop or reduce the garnishment within days.